1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to a muscle training and development device. More particularly, the device may be used to train and develop muscles involved in various sports swings using a racket, club, bat and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a number of devices available that seek to develop and/or train the muscles used in almost any sport or physical activity, including the muscles employed in golf, tennis and baseball swings. Almost all of the existing swing training devices are designed to work within the context of a sweeping arm motion that attempts to imitate an actual swing. The structure and function of the actual devices, however, vary widely. Many do not address the issue of developing the muscles utilized during the swing and further ignore the need to assist with stretching and flexibility. All of these are problematic for various reasons and none has become widely used.
For example, most of the patents describing sport-related swing developing devices focus on golf and apply a swing resistance that remains in a fixed location during the swing. This fails to orient the resistance in an effective direction throughout the swing, as can be seen from U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,229,002; 4,135,714; 4,253,663; 3,462,156 and 3,966,203.
A few other patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,050,874 and 5,284,464 suggest a swing resistance mounted on a central pivot so that the resistance follows a circular arc as the swing proceeds. This also is less than optimum, because a golf swing differs significantly from a circular arc.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,344 suggests a more complex movement of a swing resistance, but this requires a cumbersome and complex machine.